Houari Boumedienne

Boumedienne, Houari (hōärˈē bōmĕdēĕnˈ) [key], 1932?–78, president and prime minister of Algeria (1965–78). While studying in Cairo during the early 1950s he joined a group of expatriate Algerian nationalists that included Ahmed Ben Bella. Boumedienne secretly reentered Algeria (1955) to join a group of guerrillas operating in the province of Oran. He was (1960–62) chief of staff of the exiled National Liberation Army in Tunisia and served as Algeria's minister of defense from the time of its independence. After a series of disputes with Ben Bella, Boumedienne led a coup that overthrew his former ally's government. After the coup, Boumedienne assumed the posts of president, prime minister, and chairman of the revolutionary council.